


Equilibrium

by paperstorm



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: M/M, Romance, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 11:53:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4018747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperstorm/pseuds/paperstorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke has a tough time coping with a busy day of interviews - Michael notices and takes care of him. Prompted by Satan aka Jamie. Enabled by Iris.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Equilibrium

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rollercoastar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rollercoastar/gifts), [mukeofficial](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mukeofficial/gifts).



Days like today drain everybody. Michael loves what they do, he’d never want to live his life any other way, but he could do without days where they’re shuffled from one thing to another from the time they’re woken up at the ass-crack of dawn to the time they fall, exhausted, back into their beds. Michael’s lost track of how many things they’ve been to already in the last eight hours alone. Radio interviews, a book signing, meet-and-greets. He’s grateful for all of it but he’s so damn tired, and there’s still one more to go. It shouldn’t take too long, it’s just an interview for some website – Michael doesn’t even remember which one – but he wishes it was already over. They all do.  
  
Calum handles these days the best – Luke handles them the worst. Michael and Ashton fall somewhere in the middle, with Michael maybe slightly closer to the bottom of the spectrum because usually it falls to him to pick Luke back up again when he gets quiet and sad. Not that Michael minds. He doesn’t, at all. He loves Luke. He just hates seeing Luke like this, wandering around like a zombie, worn down and bone-tired. Purple half-circles under his eyes, his usually bright, excitable demeanor turns listless. Luke gets hit the hardest because the world demands the most from him. He’s their front-man; the one under the most pressure. He’s the youngest, too, and he’s more sensitive than he lets on. He tells Michael things, sometimes, when they’re alone and safe, that make Michael realize how much weight is on Luke’s shoulders – how hard he takes it when things go wrong, how responsible he feels for the entire band. He doesn’t always handle their chaotic schedule so well. Today, he’s barely handling it at all.   
  
“Are you gonna do something about that?” Calum asks, edging up beside Michael and nodding his head in the direction of Luke.   
  
Luke is standing against the opposite wall, his expression blank and hollow, staring down at this phone. He isn’t even scrolling on it, he’s just staring at what Michael assumes is a blank screen – fully out of it. They have maybe ten minutes before they have to turn themselves back on again for the last circus of the day. Michael thanks God they’re not playing a show tonight on top of everything. He doesn’t know how they’d manage it.   
  
“Once we’re done, I am,” he answers.  
  
“Why not right now?”  
  
“What am I supposed to do?” Michael speaks quietly, so only Calum can hear him. “There’s people everywhere.”  
  
Calum rolls his eyes. “I’m not talking about sucking his dick, dude. Just go talk to him.”  
  
“It won’t help. He isn’t good at talking, when he gets like this.”  
   
“What does help then?”  
  
Michael doesn’t answer, so Calum does for him.  
  
“Sucking his dick,” he surmises.  
  
Michael’s turn to roll his eyes. “I didn’t say that. Shut up,” he mutters.   
  
Calum shrugs. “What? It would help me.”  
  
“If I sucked your dick.”  
  
“No. If someone else did. Someone with boobs. Idiot.”  
  
Michael goes silent again as he watches Luke. Someone walks past him, and Luke looks up, with lost, dull eyes. If Michael didn’t know better he’d worry someone slipped a sedative into Luke’s bottle of water.   
  
“Can you just go hug him or something please? He’s breaking my freakin’ heart.” Calum points subtlety. “Take him down that hall a ways. No one will see you. I’ll keep watch.”  
  
Michael nods. He should have thought of that. He sends a tired smile to his oldest friend and makes his way over to Luke.  
  
Luke doesn’t notice him at first. Then when he does, his eyes flick up to Michael slowly, like an afterthought, like it took his tired brain a moment to remember how to react to another human.   
  
“Come with me,” Michael says.   
  
“Where?” Luke asks.   
  
“Just c’mon.”  
  
Michael walks, and hopes Luke follows. Luke always follows, though. When Michael gets them alone he wraps his hand around the back of Luke’s neck and pulls him into a hug. Luke goes so easily; relaxes against Michael’s chest. It’s easy to forget, when Luke is in Michael’s arms like this, how big he is. He used to be so tiny, and sometimes Michael still sees him that way. It doesn’t matter if Luke grows another two feet and towers over the rest of them like a tree, it will always be Michael’s job to take care of him.   
  
“Are you okay?” Michael asks, already knowing the answer. It’s an invitation for Luke to talk about it, more than an actual request for information.  
  
Luke just shakes his head. His arms circle around Michael’s waist, holding on tight.   
  
Michael slides his fingers through Luke’s hair and kisses the side of his face. “We’re almost done,” he murmurs. “One more thing. It won’t take long. Then I can get you back to the hotel and we can be alone.”  
   
“Wanna be there now,” Luke mumbles. “I’m so tired.”  
   
“I know, babe,” Michael soothes. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say much in this one, alright? I’ll talk for both of us.”  
   
Luke nods, his forehead rubbing against Michael’s neck. “Thanks Mikey.”  
   
“When we get back we can just chill. No fans, no cameras. No pressure. Just you and me. We’ll watch a movie or something. Have popcorn.”  
   
“And a bubble bath?” Luke asks, sounding like a little boy. He’s half-joking – he’ll be joking if Michael thinks it’s stupid, but serious if he doesn’t.  
   
“Anything you want,” Michael promises, rubbing Luke’s back.  
   
*           *           *  
   
When they finally get back to the hotel, Luke is barely awake anymore. He’s in some kind of trance-like state, just shuffling along behind wherever the rest of them lead. He’s lucky they all love him, really, because he could so easily be led off a cliff or to a murderer’s lair or something right now. Luke wouldn’t even notice he was being taken somewhere sinister until he’d already arrived.   
  
Michael has to let go of his arm for a moment, to open their room, and Luke sways so Ashton catches him.   
  
“Jesus,” Ashton laughs. “Are you dying?”  
  
“M’fine,” Luke mumbles, entirely unconvincingly, leaning against Ashton and rubbing his face on Ashton’s shoulder.   
  
“Okay. Sure you are,” Ashton placates, hugging Luke from the side. “Go on. Let Michael fix you.”  
  
He transfers Luke’s body back to Michael a moment later, and Michael thanks him with his eyes.   
  
“Are we gonna have to start scheduling time for this?” Calum asks, with a laugh, as he and Ashton cross the hall to their room.   
  
“We should. For the good of the band. One hour of Luke and Michael down time every day. Otherwise Luke forgets how to function and Michael turns into an asshole.”  
  
Michael rolls his eyes a little, but can’t argue it sounds like a decent idea.   
  
He steers Luke into the room and shuts the door behind them. Luke doesn’t just look tired anymore, he looks sick. He needs sleep for sure, but he needs to just be away from everything more. To turn himself off and exist without pressure or expectations, preferably for about a week but at the very least for an evening since they rarely have a full week with no commitments.   
  
“Sit,” Michael says to him. He nudges Luke in the direction of the first bed.   
  
Luke does, but he shakes himself first, trying to snap out of it, and then looks annoyed when he does. “I’m okay. You don’t have to … I’m just tired. I don’t need … anything."   
  
Michael ignores him, because it isn’t true at all. Luke just hates thinking he’s a burden. No matter what Michael says, he can’t seem to convince Luke of how much he enjoys taking care of him – that it isn’t a sacrifice. They all do it, a little. Luke is their leader but at the same time he’s also their baby – all three of them take care of him.  
  
Michael heads for the bathroom. There’s a Jacuzzi tub because it’s a nicer hotel and that’s the best luck Michael thinks they’ve ever had. They wouldn’t fit at all in a standard single tub, with them both over six feet tall and Luke with his impossibly long legs. Someone would get hurt if they even tried. He spins the taps on, finding gel for bubbles in the little cluster of complimentary cosmetics by the sink. It smells like oranges and it foams up into a rich lather in the warm water. Michael tugs his shirt over his head and then goes back out for Luke – finding him hunched over, his elbows resting on his knees and his face in his hands. Michael frowns. He could do without this part of their job. He hates watching as it chips away at pieces of Luke.   
  
He goes to him, rubbing his shoulders when he gets close enough. Luke lifts his arms and wraps them around Michael’s middle, burying his face in Michael’s tummy, where he’s softer than the others but Luke always promises it’s sexy.   
  
“Babe,” Michael whispers. “C’mon.”  
  
Luke gets up without a word and lets Michael take him into the bathroom. He lets Michael strip him, tight clothes peeling from his tired body, and help him into the tub. Michael sits, and pulls Luke on top of him, so Luke is straddling his hips while still face to face. He puts his hands on Luke’s shoulders again, squeezing the muscles.   
  
“You’re so tense.”  
  
“Stressed,” Luke corrects, sounding exhausted.   
  
“I know,” Michael whispers sympathetically. He guides Luke down; he melts against Michael’s chest, his head back on Michael’s shoulder. Michael hooks his arms around Luke’s back to keep him there, the water making him nearly weightless. “Just you and me for the rest of the night, Lukey. Nobody you gotta put a show on for. Just relax, okay? Let it all go.”  
  
“Thank you,” Luke mumbles; grateful for Michael and ashamed of needing him at the same time. “This feels good.”  
  
Michael feels it too, the way the warm water soothes his tired bones. Having Luke in his lap helps. Michael loves it when Luke is in his arms. It’s his favorite place to be, in a world where they’re never anywhere else for very long. If Luke is pressed against him, Michael can get anywhere on earth to feel like home. He rubs Luke’s back slowly, massaging gently with his fingers, the water and bubbles leaving Luke’s skin slippery so Michael’s hands slide easily over it. He works the tension from Luke’s shoulders, kneading the muscles. He probably isn’t any good at this, but Luke still sighs, breathing evening out as he slowly unwinds.  
   
He kisses Michael’s neck, and repeats, “Feels good,” in a soft voice.  
   
“Good,” Michael whispers back. “You care so much, about everyone. Everything. You gotta let me take care of you sometimes.”  
   
“You do,” Luke jokes.  
   
Michael smiles. “I mean in non-sexy ways.”  
   
“This isn’t sexy?”  
   
Michael chuckles quietly. “Yeah. It kinda is.”  
   
“Kinda? I’m naked and wet in your lap. It’s more than kinda.”  
   
Michael lets his hands travel, cupping around Luke’s ribcage and then to the front of him, up his stomach and chest. Luke is thin and broad-shouldered and strong, but he’s a little soft too, like Michael is. He isn’t all washboard abs and biceps like Ashton and Calum are. Michael likes it better that way. “I like you naked,” Michael tells him. “You’re so beautiful, you know that? My Lukey.”  
   
Luke’s lips smile against Michael’s neck. “Shut up.”  
   
“Make me.”  
   
Luke shrugs. “Can’t. Too tired.”  
   
“You wanna talk about what happened today?” Michael stops massaging and just wraps his arms back around Luke’s waist, holding him close. Luke’s fingers move between them, touching Michael’s chest.  
   
“Nothing happened. I just …” Luke sighs, sounding upset again.  
   
“I know. It’s okay. You’re allowed to spin a little. We all do.”  
   
“I love what we … it’s just a lot, sometimes.”  
   
“Yeah. Overwhelming. It is for all of us.”  
   
“So why am I the only one who …” Luke trails off, sounding upset. He pushes his face further into Michael’s neck.  
   
“Shh,” Michael murmurs. He squeezes the back of Luke’s neck, fingers scratching through his damp hair. “It doesn’t matter, babe.”  
   
“S’stupid,” Luke mumbles.  
   
“No,” Michael argues in a gentle voice. “Nothing about you is stupid. I love it all.”  
   
Luke exhales slowly. He’s beating himself up for it, but he isn’t rejecting the comfort Michael’s offering.  
   
Michael trails one hand back down over Luke’s chest, fingers brushing against a nipple, down his stomach, and picks up his cock, not quite soft against Michael’s leg. He wraps his fingers around it and strokes slowly, coaxing it to stiffen in his hand.  
   
“Mikey,” Luke breathes.  
   
“Let me make you feel better, okay?”  
   
Luke nods.  
   
“Turn over,” Michael says. He helps Luke sit up and flip around, so he’s in Michael’s lap the other way now, ass against Michael’s crotch, reclined against Michael’s chest like he’s a pillow. Michael takes his time. He wants Luke unzipped and broken, so he can hold the pieces together and put them back in place in the order they belong instead of mismatched like they are now. His hands wander Luke’s chest, fingers pinching nipples gently, squeezing hips, tracing the faint outlines of muscle. Luke reaches back and tangles a hand in Michael’s hair, turning his head into Michael’s neck again, his nose warm from the bath as he nuzzles under Michael’s jaw. Michael wishes he’d shaved, so it’d be a soft surface for Luke to rub his face against.  
   
Michael slides his hands lower but ignores where Luke wants them to go, dragging them instead up Luke’s thighs. He turns his wrists so his fingers brush the insides of Luke’s legs. The hairs are so soft here; sensitive, and Luke shivers.  
   
“Mikey,” he begs quietly, using Michael’s affection for the nickname to his advantage. Michael’s never been able to say no to him, anyway. Luke’s had Michael wrapped around his finger since they were fifteen. Michael even wrote a song about it, although no one but Luke is allowed to know that.  
   
Michael obeys, like he always does. He finds Luke’s cock again, flushed and hard now, and curls his fingers back around it. He goes slow. He strokes easy and deliberate, gentle twists of his wrists, while his other arm wraps across Luke’s chest to keep him close, fighting against the anti-gravity of the water. Luke pushes his ass back into Michael’s crotch at first, wanting Michael to feel good too, but abandons it quickly as Michael’s touches begin to undo him. It’s exactly what Michael wanted – Luke’s tightrope hold on his inhibitions unfastened, lost to everything but pleasure. It’s the only thing Michael thinks will get everything else out of his head.  
   
“Michael.” It’s barely a whisper of breath, uttered in time to the small rock of his hips up into Michael’s hand.  
   
Michael’s head spins and he kisses Luke’s face instead of answering. Luke arches his neck back, pleading for a real kiss, and Michael doesn’t refuse. He slides their lips together, soft and familiar, as he squeezes around the head of Luke’s cock and twists again. Michael is hard too, arousal swimming through his veins and his own cock pressing into the small of Luke’s back, but he doesn’t grind into him like his body wants to. This is about Luke.  
   
“So close,” Luke sighs into Michael’s lips, chased by a low moan that rumbles in Michael’s chest.  
   
“You wanna come?” Michael asks huskily, teasing just a little because even in times like this, when it’s serious, he can’t resist.  
   
“Yeah. So bad, Mikey,  _please_.” Luke’s voice is raspy and fucked out and desperate, just how Michael likes him; just how Michael likes to get him sometimes before he backs right off so Luke’s left hanging, just to torture him a little before he starts touching again, but he doesn’t play anymore. Luke doesn’t need that right now.  
   
Michael speeds up his hand, sliding the other one down and cupping Luke’s balls in his palm, rolling them gently in his fingers while he jerks Luke hard enough to tip him over the edge with the other. Luke whimpers when he comes and bucks into Michael’s hand; the most beautiful, shattered noise, that has Michael swearing and seeing spots for a moment. Luke twitches as Michael strokes him through it, pulling the last few tiny spasms from Luke’s body and then letting go once he knows it’s crossed the line into too-much. Luke pants for a moment and then whines a little, turning his face back into Michael’s neck and reaching for him. Luke gets needy when it’s over sometimes – just sometimes – and Michael would die before he’d go anywhere right now.  
   
“Right here, baby,” he promises, wrapping both arms around Luke’s chest and hugging him tight.  
   
“There’s come in the water,” Luke says, sounding displeased for just a moment and then giggling. “That’s gross.”  
   
Michael laughs too, fond and exasperated. “Well there goes the mood.”  
   
Luke wiggles a little. “C’mon. Let’s get out before it’s all over us.”  
   
“You’re seriously ruining this,” Michael tells him, but doesn’t actually protest.  
   
He wraps a towel around Luke and kisses his nose. Luke is cuter than normal with wet, messy hair and bleary eyes. Michael wants to snuggle him, so he does. He leads them back to the bed and shuts off the lights before nudging Luke down to the mattress and following him. Under the smooth, clean sheets, he wraps Luke up again, Luke slotting against Michael’s body like a puzzle piece, his head tucking under Michael’s chin. He’s relaxed, now, and Michael is pleased with himself.  
   
“You want me to suck you off or something?” Luke asks.  
   
“No, I’m good.”  
   
“Why not?”  
   
“‘Cause this was about you.”  
   
“Oh.” Luke takes a deep, shaky breath. It sounds overwhelmed again, and it’s the last thing Michael meant to happen.  
   
“It’s okay,” he murmurs. “You needed tonight. Nothing wrong with that.”  
   
“Yeah. I did.” Luke kisses the spot above Michael’s collarbone and rests his mouth there. “Thanks.”  
   
“Any time,” Michael promises. 


End file.
